Quent Capital LLC Buys 167 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,057 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 5,077.1% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 182,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,445,000 after buying an additional 178,612 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 14,151.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 148,220 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $20,708,000 after purchasing an additional 147,180 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,038,775,000 after purchasing an additional 111,147 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 80.9% in the 3rd quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 156,502 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $21,865,000 after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares during the period. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 907.3% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 76,416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,252,000 after purchasing an additional 68,830 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total transaction of $959,600.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,307,396.90. This represents a 4.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock opened at $146.62 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $148.20. The firm has a market cap of $40.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.08.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on YUM shares. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Argus raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $147.37.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.